◼ Across the Gulf Coast, Mardi Gras was getting into full swing. - Washington Post
In the Cajun country of southwest Louisiana, masked riders were preparing to go from town to town, making merry along the way in the Courir du Mardi Gras. And parades were scheduled elsewhere around Louisiana and on the Mississippi and Alabama coasts. The celebration arrived in Louisiana in 1682 when the explorer LaSalle and his party stopped at a place they called Bayou Mardi Gras south of New Orleans to celebrate. The site is now lost to history.
The end of Mardi Gras gives way to the beginning of Lent, the period of fasting and repentance before Easter Sunday.
